If you are thinking of starting a catering business. So let me tell you that the idea of catering is very good. Because food is God.
First of all, understand what is a catering business?
It is a business model that provides food service on the occasion of celebrations like weddings, birthday parties, festivals etc. In other words, it is the business of human festivals.
In this article, we guide you through what things you need to start a catering business.
Table of contents
Catering Business Planning
- Finding Your Catering Niche
- Catering Equipment You Need
- What Type of Food Your Serve
- Create an Informative Menu
Money Management
- Track, Plan, Prepare
- Catering Business Loan
Keeping everything in mind, let’s go ahead with the plan.
Find your catering niche
Especially, before diving into the business of catering, you need to choose which type of catering niche is the best fit for you.
There are 6 different types of catering.
#1. Corporate Catering
Firstly, Corporate catering is based on the size and level of the event being organized. It can range from small gatherings to fancy dinners. mostly a specific type of structure is required when catering to these.
However, some companies will be more partial to a small open bar for their residents. while others will opt for a short food tasting session.
#2. Wedding Catering
Wedding catering is one of the most common forms of mass catering. Especially, one of the most important aspects of a wedding is the reception, which primarily focuses on the food served to the guests. But weddings can be tricky because you may never be able to accurately predict the number of people present during a wedding.
#3. Social Event Catering
Retirement parties, birthdays, baby and bridal showers always call for celebration. These tasks are more intimate and demand attention to detail, especially when it comes to catering.
Due to their small nature, they always strive to meet the specific dietary needs of the customers. People’s allergies should be taken into account to avoid cases of inflammatory allergies caused by food intake.
#4 Concession Catering
Public events, major sporting events and large concerts fall into this category. Wherever you find huge crowds of people, chances are there is food on site. In such cases, only include the most popular foods as it is difficult to meet the specific dietary needs of each. For example, it makes sense to have popular fast food bars instead of full course food options.
#5. Food Truck Catering
In fact, it is a highly popular catering right to choose for small outdoor functions or functions with many food vendors. They do not need a large staff.
Two or four workers are sufficient to prepare and serve food to the people, which is mainly served through a window. The food selection can range from very simple to fancy, depending on the needs of the customer and the nature of the event.
This kind of catering works well for casual outdoor events in a garden setting where the crowd is not large enough to overwhelm the caterers.
#6. Restaurant Catering
Ultimately, if you are hosting an event and want a more advanced menu than usual, then restaurant catering is the best fit for you.
In fact, if your event is taking place on the premises of a hotel, it is advisable to use one of the hotel’s recommended restaurant caterers. You can also get such a catering service in the form of a package, which will save you the hustle and bustle of planning for all the intricate details.
Some restaurants also offer outside catering if you want the same service in one place. Caterers can also give table dressing services if you want to make the event look pretty and attractive.
Next question: What kind of catering equipment do you need?
Choosing the right restaurant kitchen equipment is an important part of success when it comes to starting a new restaurant. From our point of view, I’ve compiled a list of essential restaurant equipment so you can make sure all your bases are covered when preparing your kitchen.
I’d like to put a link in there to a list of catering equipment- Catering Checklist for Events.
What Type of Food Your Serve ?
One of the toughest questions in the catering industry is what kind of food do you serve to your customers? But I can solve this question in 5 sentences with this.
The Art of Asking!
- Make a list of the food of the people living in that area.
- Ask your customers what they like to eat.
- Define what age group you want to serve.
- Add the dishes that people eat on a daily basis.
- Last but not least, track your competitors.
Basically, we are from India so we have the most knowledge about Indian food recipes. Here is a list of 33 dishes that are very much loved by the people of India.
Create an Informative Menu
How to create an informative and attractive menu?
Your catering menu is like the first impression of your service, it tells people what they want to order. The design of the menu should be such that an 8-year-old can easily understand.
Here are 5 points you can consider when designing your menu.
- Readability
- images
- Colors
- General Fonts
- Veg & Non-Veg
Money Management
For many people, starting a catering business is exciting. But a lot goes into starting a business, the first thing is money management.
How much money do you need to start a catering business?
The estimated funding for starting a catering business in India is around 10 to 20 lakhs.
Loans for Catering Business:
I know 20 lakhs is too much for middle-class people in India. But we always have a solution. In India, a loan firm called Finbull India provides small business loans ranging from 10 to 30 lakhs with minimum interest rates.
I hope the article helps you to start your catering business easily. if you are finding a business idea you also read our article on small business ideas 2022.
